


Thank You, Summer Love

by Bunnytaichou



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, F/M, Hummingbirdshipping, M/M, Unhealthy Relationships, past honorshipping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2019-08-06 18:59:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16393337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bunnytaichou/pseuds/Bunnytaichou
Summary: After a painful breakup, Falkner needs time not only to reflect on his dissolved relationship, but on how he sees himself, his friends, and his dreams.This is for the most part based on an RP I was part of years ago, but also on things that have happened to me and a close friend of mine.  As a warning, there is an adult character dating a teenager.  However, there will be no explicit scenes or details between them.





	1. It's Over, Isn't It?

**Author's Note:**

> Just another warning that I will be touching on a predatory relationship. If you are sensitive to this subject, please look away.
> 
> Also, if you like Morty, I'm sorry.

Monday morning dawned cold but sunny, with crisp breezes carrying the scent of fall leaves and morning dew. Falkner rose a little after the sun, yawning on the way to give his Hoothoot a loving pat before getting dressed to do his morning chores. Because of the chill, he pulled on a thicker haori with long sleeves instead of the lighter one that he usually wore. Then he grabbed a long red hair tie to pull back his hair as he headed out to the birdhouse to begin the most important work of feeding all of the bird Pokemon in his care. 

With a cheerful good morning to each bird, he presented them with their preferred foods, and once they were all eating, he went around to make sure that everyone had fresh, clean water. After this, he swept the birdhouse floor so that it was clean of shed feathers, seed shells, and droppings. Finally, he made sure that everyone had fresh bedding. With all of this done, he returned to his house, which was in front of the big birdhouse, to take care of himself. 

As part of his daily routine, a long, hot shower was a reward for his hard work. Of course, he had trainers under him who could help with all of his birds, but that, like so many things in his life, was something that Falkner liked to do alone. Hauling heavy buckets and climbing up and down ladders helped keep his body in a shape that he could be proud of, and being their sole caretaker allowed him to forge a bond with his Pokemon that was admirable among his peers.

When his shower was finished, he pinned back the fringe that usually hung over his right eye using a clip in the shape of an articuno. Then he washed his face and added a dab of moisturizer to his forehead, chin, and each cheek before rubbing it in. Once his face was taken care of and his hair dried and styled, he returned to the main room and got dressed in a cold weather version of his favorite outfit. Then he wandered into his small kitchen. 

Actually, his entire house was very small and well suited to a young man who lived alone. The main room was open with lots of cushions on the tatami mat covered floor for himself and guests to sit. A few were positioned in front of the small television set near his bookshelves while several more were gathered around the low table where he ate most of his meals. His futon was in a far corner, with several bird Pokemon inspired kites adorning the walls around it and the big chest of drawers where he kept his clothes. When he had guests, there was a divider featuring the image of a soaring Swellow that could be used to block off his sleeping and dressing area, but he mostly kept it open, allowing his always neatly made bed to be viewable from the table. 

The kitchen area was adjoined to this large room, just beyond his dining table. It was very simple, with an old stove, a sink for washing things, and a small refrigerator. Since he ate mostly traditional things, he didn’t own the fancy gadgets that most people did, though he did have a small electric rice cooker. Otherwise, his limited counter space was fairly optimized to store spices and bottles of things like mirin. Everything else, including his pots and utensils, was neatly stored on shelves along the far left wall. 

Aside from this main room, the only other room in the house was his bathroom, which was just as simple and small as the rest of Falkner’s living space. For the rare times he felt like a soaking bath, he had a small stone tub, but he mostly showered using the sprayer attached to the wall. 

It was a humble house, but one that he loved and took pride in keeping neat and organized. Most of the kites, lanterns, and origami hangings, he had made himself, though he did have a few items that were gifts. His current favorite was a Drifloon shaped lantern that hung from the ceiling above his futon. Today, he smiled at it as he got his tea kettle on and then sat down at his table to flip through a magazine. Coming across a picture of a bird Pokemon, he put a hand to his face and sighed.

“Oh, Hoothoot, you know I’m not usually like this, but it’s so cute! Please come and see.”

On his perch near his master’s bed, the round owl-like Pokemon first rolled his eyes and then flew over. After gracefully landing on the table, he cocked his head and peered down at the picture It was of another type of small, round owl Pokemon that appeared to be wearing a little bowtie made of leaves. The bird on the table blinked at this while Falkner went on.

“I know I should stop staring at it. There’s no way I can get one unless we can go to Alola. I don’t have the money or the time. I mean, who ever heard of gym leaders taking extensive travel vacations?” After a beat, he looked up and pointed at Hoothoot. “Don’t answer that.”

With a sigh, he reached over and smoothed his hand from the top of his Pokemon’s head to his back and then repeated the gesture. Hoothoot cooed and closed his eyes, making the blue-haired young boy smile. 

“Well, our time’ll come. Until then, we’ll just keep training hard for when we’re ready to go out into the world on our own adventure, right?”

“Hoo,” the owl piped up, lifting its wings and stretching its small body. 

“Right!”

His kettle whistled, and he smiled again as he got up. After pouring hot water over the tea leaves in his favorite Pidgey cup, he brought his steeping drink to the table and sat down with another wistful sigh. The sky called him, and though he answered almost daily, he never entertained his wish to find out just how far he could go if there weren’t obligations tethering him to Violet City. Most of those obligations were not terrible. He loved his birds and he took to his job as the Violet City gym leader with pride. The things he hated were minimal, but they existed. One appeared now as leaves peeking from the other side of the table.

“Get out of here!” He shouted immediately. 

Startled by the sudden noise, an Oddish ran around the table and right towards him, which made absolutely no sense to the aggravated young man. “No!” he yelled as he grabbed it by the base of its leaves and carried it to the front door. “Get out! Go home!”

Opening the door, he tossed the bulb Pokemon out and then slammed it shut. Then he flopped into his place again with a huff. “Stupid Oddish. Why would it run to me like I was gonna hug it or something?”

“Hoo,” his Pokemon responded, fluffing up a bit.

Falkner rolled his eyes at this, “I was not mean. This isn’t Oddish Daycare here. The next time he comes back, I’m cooking him, and I mean it this time.”

To others, there was nothing extraordinary about the way that Hoothoot was looking at his trainer, but Falkner knew better. That owl was judging him. Shrugging, he continued to talk to his longtime companion, “You’re the one that let that Oddish in, aren’t you? Well, why stop there? Let’s get an Emolga or something.”

At this, the owl fluffed up and turned his back, making Falker laugh as he poked him. “I wouldn’t do that, and you know it. If I was gonna go for an Electric/Flying type, it would be Zap-”

Here, he was cut off by the sound of his Pokegear notifying him that he had a message. Wrinkling his brow, he picked it up and then smiled immediately upon seeing who it was from. “Oh, look, it’s Morty!” Even though he knew the owl Pokemon would not care, he still spoke aloud, “Huh, says he wants to meet me at the gym. Not our gym, but his gym. It’s a little cold out, but do you wanna go with me?”

The Hoothoot cocked his head, seeming to be considering this, but then fluffed up and closed his eyes. His trainer nodded at this and then pat his head, “Yeah, I get it. I feel the same, honestly, but it’s been a while since I’ve gotten to see Morty. Plus, he’s been doing some renovations to the gym, so I wanna see what he’s gotten done. Guess I’ll eat a little and go.”

He made himself a very simple breakfast of rice porridge topped with seaweed and pickled plum to go along with his tea. Once he was done, he washed his dishes and scrubbed the table. Then he stepped into the cold morning to head for Ecruteak City aboard his largest Pidgeot. 

Taking the different routes on foot, the distance between Ecruteak City was a long way, but it was alway a short trip for Falkner, even when his Pidgeot flew at the leisurely speed that he preferred. He relished the feeling of looking down at the world below and feeling above all of its problems. It felt magical being able to touch the tops of trees and peer down into the nests of wild bird and other tree dwelling Pokemon. Then there was the moment where he landed. 

The sight of the dance hall always gave him mixed feelings, but he would never allow himself to dwell on them. Instead, he headed right for the gym and smiled brightly at the tall person who stepped out. Morty was dressed in his usual black sweater and tan pants. His red tipped purple scarf flapped in the chilly wind of the day. Falkner shivered just a little and wrapped his haori tighter around his body as he approached the tall blonde.

“Hey,” Morty smiled once they were near each other. 

“Hey,” Falkner replied. “So what’s up? Just wanted to see me?”

“Well,” Morty began, reaching for the end of his scarf to fiddle with it. “Something like that. Do you want to take a walk?”

“Um, sure!”

A walk would be good for this sudden uneasy feeling in his stomach. Hopefully, everything was alright. Morty had been a lot more than a little worried that the League would put a cap on his budget for renovations to the gym. The Ghost trainer had so many things he wanted done, but having helped him with the math based on the estimates, Falkner was aware of just how expensive these changes would be. And he knew how sensitive the blonde could be. A little fussing from the league always dampened his mood. Not that the young bird trainer would mind cheering Morty up if it came to that, but he didn’t want to see him down and talking negatively about himself.

For a short while, they walked in silence. Seeing that they were headed towards the Bell Tower made the younger of the two’s heart swell a bit. It was the place where the legendary bird Ho-Oh used to rest, and the beginning of their bond. How often had they lost countless hours talking of their dreams of seeing the rainbow bird of legend together? Thinking about it, he moved closer to Morty, only to look towards him and find him moving away.

“I saw Hanako-tan today,” the blonde remarked to the now frowning dark blue haired boy. “She looked well.”

“All the way here, huh?” Falkner huffed, crossing his arms. “Meanwhile, her Oddish was in my house AGAIN.”

When Morty smiled, it only partly eased the worry churning at Falkner’s stomach. He had a feeling they were getting to something, and the small talk was doing nothing to ease that feeling. But he had known Morty long enough to know that this is how he did things. He never got right to what was on his mind, especially if it was something bad. 

“You didn’t cook it, did you?”

Falkner smirked at the threat that he had been making for years now. He then shrugged, “Nah, not this time. Though it probably would have gone well in my porridge this morning.”

As he came to a stop a short distance away from Bell Tower, Morty’s blonde brows knit together and he frowned. “Are you feeling well? We could always talk another time.”

“Nah, I’m fine,” Falkner waved his hand, wanting to get on with it. “It’s just cold so I wanted something to warm me up. Do you wanna come home with me? Can you? I’ll make a hotpot.”

“Sukiyaki with no eggs,” the blonde teased with a smile.

The bird trainer couldn’t help but return the expression. After all these years, Morty knew him just as well. Falkner loved cooking sukiyaki, but he could never bring himself to eat eggs because of their potential to become a baby bird. No amount of explaining that unfertilized eggs were used for consumption would get Falkner to touch them, even for a dish like sukiyaki. 

“Geez, I’ll get some for you if that’s what you really want,” he rolled his eyes and reached for Morty’s scarf to tug on it as he moved close enough to feel the other’s body heat. He then looked up at the taller person with what he imagined to be his most seductive expression. “Come home with me.”

Morty’s cheeks flushed and he backed away, gently pulling his scarf away from Falkner’s hand. “Um… I can’t, Hayato. I have a lot to do around here today, and… there’s something else.”

“So... what’s up?” He asked this even though that feeling in the pit of his stomach told him he shouldn’t. His brain knew what his stomach didn’t. Not asking would only accomplish what this entire conversation thus far had -- postponing the inevitable. Seeing the other’s hesitance made him want to throw up. To keep calm, he ran his fingers through the blue strands of hair that covered his eye, closing both with a long, nervous sigh.

The blonde took a deep breath as well, and all was silent until Falkner finally opened his eyes to the sight of the other’s sad face. Then the bomb was dropped. “I...I can’t date you anymore, Hayato…”

There it was. Somehow, despite all the warning signs that had occured this morning, he hadn’t been expecting it, and so hearing these words was like a roundhouse kick in the face followed by a gut punch. All he could do at first was blink and then scratch at his cheek, which was starting to tingle a bit from the chilly breezes that rustled the nearby trees. 

“You’re… breaking up with me?” He questioned and received a slow, pitiful nod. “But...why, though?”

“I feel it’s what’s best for me,” Morty started and then proceeded down what felt like a never ending list of reasons why. Some of those things hadn’t been a problem when they became a couple, others were things that he never knew were a problem, especially from his observations of other relationships, and then there were things that had caused issues in the past, but he thought they had worked past them or that they were doing well working towards compromises on them. Either way, he stood there feeling as if he hadn’t been given much of a chance at all to fix these things that made him such a horrible person who deserved to have his heart stepped on.

Falkner could feel himself coming undone. Everything around him looked a little too blurry, which was his signal to escape. 

“Do what you have to do then,” he spoke softly to Morty, and then, turning quickly, he headed back towards the gym, where he had left Pidgeot to rest. 

As he prepared to mount his bird, his eyes headed towards the entrance of the gym and then narrowed. There, in all his flamboyant glory, stood a person that Falkner would put on his own list of problems with his now former relationship with Morty -- Eusine. The blonde, overdressed man was giving him this look that seemed to say ‘Yikes, I’m sorry’, which Falkner did not appreciate at all. Eusine knew. Of course he did. Morty and Eusine would have talked about this over tea and in between ravings about Suicune. There were a lot of questions the heartbroken Falkner could ask and quite a few accusations that he could throw out, but he knew in his heart that it didn’t matter. This was over.

As he swung himself up onto Pidgeot, Morty caught up to him, looking as though he was the one who had been wounded here today. “Hayato, I’m sorry. Please don’t leave just yet.”

He started to consider it, but then Eusine stepped over and put a hand on Morty’s shoulder. At this, Falkner made an amused noise and gently tapped his heels against the bird’s sides. 

“It’s Falkner to you, and you're right. This is for the best. Bye.”

Pidgeot, who had read his master’s distress well, took off at top speed, quickly leaving Ecruteak City and the vision of the two hated blonde men behind. Closing his eyes, Falkner clung to the bird’s neck and allowed Pidgeot to go where the wind took them. They ended up near a calm lake. Sliding down from the bird, Falkner went to the water’s edge and stared down at his reflection, seeing a young man with hurt in his one visible eye. This was not what he had expected from today, but as he reflected on the past two years, he was able to recall more than several occasions where he had reason to fear that it would happen. One of those reasons for fear had given him a look as though he actually felt sorry for any of this. How dare he? There had never been any amount of friendship between Falkner and Eusine that was enough to warrant that man looking at him with pity.

And Morty. Falkner couldn’t help but to remember every kiss and every touch. His mind brought up every time that face was above his and the way the thin, yet toned body felt in his arms when they tightened around it. Reaching into the folds of his clothing near his neck, he pulled out a silver chain and stared down at the charms on it. There was a Gastly and a Haunter. When Morty had first put it on him with only the Gastly charm, he had promised that on the day a Gengar charm was added, they would begin their journey together. And Falkner had believed him because then, and even now, he believed that he would never love or be loved by anyone the way he had with Morty. He had truly believed he had found his soulmate, brought to him by the spirit of Ho-oh itself. 

But he had been wrong, and now he stood on the shore of this lake staring into the face of a boy who was now questioning all of his other beliefs. After all, he had believed with all of his heart that there was at least one man in his life who would always be there. How old was he when the letters had stopped coming, anyway? Morty’s arms had been the comfort he had need to get through the hurt, and then he had continued carrying his father’s torch because it was all he knew how to do. Life had been simple, yet also complicated. It had basically been a mess, but it was a mess that was comforting in its familiarity. All of that had changed in a single morning. What was he supposed to do now? What was he supposed to believe in?

As he closed his eyes, a single tear slipped from his hidden right eye. This led to him being angry with himself for crying. In his rage, he ripped the silver chain from his neck and tossed it into the water. Then he turned to his Pidgeot, hugging the bird’s neck when the large head bumped affectionately against his body.

Burying his face in the warm feathers, he whispered, “Take me home, Pidgeot. I think you’re the only someone I’m not angry with right now.”

The Pidgeot used his head to gently nudge the trainer onto his back. Then he rose with a gentle flap of his wings before heading in the direction of home. Once they were airborne, Falkner was able to see where they are. Off in the distance, he could make out the Celadon City department store. Pidgeot had tried to stick to their usual routine, but thought that his master needed a rest first. 

“Thank you, Pidgeot,” he spoke softly as he hugged his neck. “But I don’t want to see Janine today. I just… I want to be with my birds. I should’ve known. No matter what happens, all I have is you guys.”

In that moment, it truly felt that his birds were the only ones in his life that truly loved him, and so once he was home, he went into the birdhouse and laid down in some of the spare hay, closing his eyes. He kept telling himself he wouldn’t cry, but as he was surrounded by worried birds, it became harder for him. When two Pidgeys returned with Hoothoot, the tears fell as the round owl nudged his way into his arms.

The relationship was two years, but the friendship had been six. Six years of his life where he had counted on being able to share things with someone that he couldn’t share with others -- it was now over. As he thought of the fact that the one person he would trust to hold him when he cried had been the one to hurt him this way, Falkner began to sob, hugging Hoothoot until, exhausted by his tears, he fell asleep.


	2. Poker Face

Falkner gave himself a week, telling himself that he would be over the breakup by then. However, a week came and went with him still feeling like anything but himself. Even after his self imposed recovery time limit, he found himself just going through the motions of living and running the gym. He won against some trainers and sent them on their way with lofty words of encouragement. Others, he lost to and handed over Zephyr badges with a feeling of bitterness at knowing that their journey lie ahead of them, while his seemed to have stalled here in Violet City. Somehow, he could put on a cool smile for the benefit of his junior trainers and those who came to battle. Even so, it took all he had in him to keep that smile on. Once he was home with his birds, he couldn’t do it anymore. 

For the first few days, it was mostly tears that the birds witnessed. After that, it was apathy. He still took good care of his Pokemon and showed them the same amount of love and affection, but when it came to taking care of himself, the neglect was obvious. He only picked at food and then threw it out after two or three bites. For the sake of cleanliness and appearances, he would shower and brush his hair, but his face was starting to break out because he didn’t want to look at his own reflection long enough to go through his skincare regimen. 

Those who didn’t know him well likely wouldn’t notice these changes in his behavior, but there was at least one person he couldn’t hide from.

Janine practically kicked down the door to the Violet City gym on a snowy Tuesday evening. Falkner was just handing over another Zephyr badge, fake smile plastered on his face, when the intrusion occurred and he was confronted by the purple haired ninja girl. She gave a polite bow to the happy trainer who was leaving, but once the two friendly rivals were alone, the act was dropped with her pinching his upper left arm.

“Where the heck have you been, bird brain?!” she shouted over his pained complaints. “Everyone’s been calling and messaging you. Then they all started calling ME. Oh, except not Lyra, and that’s cause she got so frustrated trying to call you for a match on Saturday that she apparently threw her Pokegear and broke it! She told me to tell you you owe her a new one.”

That Janine was getting on his case was no surprise because this is what she did -- nagged at and punished him like a second mom. However, Falkner was in a bit of wide eyed shock at the story that his long time friend had to share. Rubbing a hand along the sore spot on his arm, he asked slowly, “I’m sorry, but... how does Lyra throwing her Pokegear mean I’m the one who owes her a new one?”

“You’re asking me to make sense of that?” Janine shrugged and rolled her eyes. “Call her and ask her yourself.”

“Well, I guess I can’t now since I somehow owe her a new Pokegear,” Falkner smirked. At least this was worth a snort from the ninja, but he knew better to think that he was in the clear. As he lead the way out of the gym and towards his house, he glanced at her and then down at the snow covered walkway. “So what’s up? How’s your dad, other than not as cool as my dad.”

He knew better, but he couldn’t help himself. Janine got in front of him, balled up her fist and punched the bird trainer precisely in the place she’d pinched earlier. “Don’t change the subject -- especially by saying something that isn’t even true. What the heck is wrong with you?!”

“Owww,” he whined, rubbing the spot that was certain to form a bruise after all of this abuse. “You know, I don’t see why everything with you has to be so fricking violent.”

As they started once more towards Falkner’s house, his friend folded her arms with a heavy brow, “Wow, you know, if you taught your birds to dodge Electric attacks the way you keep dodging the question, you’d be in the Elite Four by now.”

“Now that’s just hurtful,” Falkner remarked as he tucked his hands into his sleeves. “Besides, you know I don’t have any plans to challenge the League. I’m already tied down with the gym and all my birds. The last thing I want to be is like your dad — too busy to even make my own sandwich.”

“It wouldn’t always be that way,” Janine rolled her eyes. “As long as you have a good Elite Four behind you, especially a group that has someone like my dad, a Champion actually gets to travel a lot.”

He shrugged, “Yeah well, glad you think I could make Champion someday and all, but I don’t think I’d look good in a cape. Definitely not as cool as Lance.”

“You don’t have…” Janine started and then punched the same spot even harder than before. While he wondered how many more he could take before he lost feeling in that arm, she knit her brows together and resumed scolding him. “You’re doing it again! You know, I’ll give it to you, you’re good at changing the subject. But I’m seriously getting mad!”

“Okay, okay,” he sighed, running his fingers through his fringe. They were arriving at his house now, and after they entered, he went to the kitchen to put on tea. “I’m sorry that everyone has been calling you about me,” he called over his shoulder, thinking that he should apologize for at least that much. 

But his purple haired companion crossed her arms as she plopped down at the table, “You think that’s what I care about? That people are calling me? Don’t you get it, bird brain? You have friends that worry about you, especially me, so tell me what’s going on!”

Filling his kettle with water, he shrugged, “I just haven’t been in some social mood.”

“And you couldn’t answer anyone to tell us that? Honestly, we thought you were just not allowed to see us anymore.”

“It’s not like that,” Falkner huffed as he moved the kettle to the stove. Not wanting to look at her, he began rummaging through his fridge, hoping that he could manage to deflect where this conversation was going. 

But his friend was far too determined to find out what had been troubling the “bird brain”. From behind him, he heard her sigh and then tap on the table with her nails. She seemed very frustrated with him, which was par for the course with them. However, when she spoke, her tone was surprisingly soft. 

“Please tell me what it’s like, then. Falkner, I’m worried about you, for real. We all are. We all… have been…”

His lower lip tucked in at the momentary consideration of unburdening himself. Wouldn’t it be nice to throw it all on the table -- to not carry it all around by himself while pretending that the things on his mind weren’t heavy? It all sounded so good, but at length, he shook his head and began gathering vegetables, placing them on his cutting board. “Don’t worry about me. You guys know I can take care of myself.”

“I know, but we don’t think you’re supposed to have all the answers, either. And...you don’t have to be cool all the time.”

Turning and running a hand through his hair, Falkner performed a perfectly dismissive laugh, “Why are you saying stuff like that? There’s nothing wrong with me. And if you see Lyra before I do, tell her I’ll see her Saturday. Now, I’m gonna make sukiyaki, but I don’t have eggs, ok?”

Janine sighed, putting her chin in her hand with her elbow propped on the table. “Yeah, ok.”

Except for the sound of his chopping vegetables and the occasional fluttering of Hoothoot sleeping over on his perch, the house fell into silence. Janine began flipping through a magazine on the table, leaving him to regret that he had shut down the conversation. Talking to his friend had felt good -- good enough that he was actually interested in eating his dinner tonight instead of picking at it. He wanted to continue, but he didn’t want her wandering into a certain topic. Unfortunately, when it came to stubborness, they were birds of a feather. Somehow, she would get the conversation back there. 

But was that really so bad? He had known her since they were both pooping in diapers, so how much more embarrassing could showing emotion while talking about a painful break up be? Because this was why he was reluctant -- he didn’t feel as though he could go into it without crying, and that was something that he did not like to let anyone see him do. He felt apologetic for this, and so once he had the ingredients that needed to be cooked sizzling in his pot, he started for the door, calling back to his guest, “Keep an eye on it. I’ll go borrow some eggs from the neighbor.”

“You sure?” She asked, turning in her seat. “I know how you feel about it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he waved his hand as he stepped out into the cold, snowy evening. “Be right back.”

Falkner’s nearest neighbors were kind people that he had known since childhood. He borrowed two eggs from them with the promise that he would bring them two next week, and then he returned home with them tucked into his sleeves. As he entered, Janine was finishing up setting the table. He sat in a spot next to the one that she had picked out earlier and then cracked the two eggs into a small bowl for her. 

“Thanks,” she smiled as she sat down next to him. 

Using chopsticks, he lightly beat the eggs and then sat the bowl down in front of her. Then he cleaned his utensils on his napkin before picking some tofu from the pot to eat. Janine went for beef, and after swishing it in her eggs, she popped it into her mouth and gave him an appreciative thumbs up. Such a small gesture made him feel good enough to put on a genuine smile. All of the time spent wallowing in self pity had been a waste when this was what he really needed -- to be with his friends -- the people who cared about him so much that at least one of them would destroy their Pokegear because he had neglected her call. 

“You know,” Janine cut into his thoughts as she was dipping some tofu into the egg now. “I still don’t get the whole not eating eggs thing.”

“So if someone offered you deep fried Crobat, you’d eat it?”

“That’s totally different,” she argued, causing the bird trainer to put his elbow on the table and lean into it with his chin on his fist in a ‘tell me more’ gesture. Rolling her eyes at him, she continued, “An egg is totally not a bird if it’s not fertilized, Falkner. I feel like we’ve had this conversation like eighty thousand times now.”

“Same as the one about our dads,” the bird trainer shrugged with a smirk as he got some of the meat from the pot to enjoy. “And as always, you’re the most wrong.”

Janine rose her brow, “Why are you ridiculous? I mean, I get how important dads are to the fragile male ego…”

“Whoooa,” Falkner held up both hands in mock surrender. “Fragile male ego! There’s no way I’m winning this argument now, even though, and I’m just saying, if your father was the best trainer in the whole world --” picking up his chopsticks, he gestured around the room with them, ignoring his friend’s dismissive noise. “-- and I mean the whole world -- not just around here, but the whole wide world. If he is toootally the best, then how come he has never beat Lance?”

“Your dad’s never beat Lance either,” she huffed. 

“Nope, you got me. He’s never beat Lance,” Falkner replied with an expression of triumph. “But he’s also never tried. Instead, he’s off around the world -- that’s the whole world, mind you -- not just around here -- and he’s facing all kinds of trainers and Pokemon. When he comes back, he’s gonna throttle Lance and then Red.”

“Yeah, no,” Janine replied with a confident expression as she picked up some tofu. “That’s not gonna happen because first, he would have to face the Elite Four, which means my dad. All that training from the whole world -- not just around here -- is not gonna help him, just like these eggs are not gonna be hatching into a bird because they were NEVER FERTILIZED, FALKNER.”

“Pfft, you think I’m crazy,” Falkner rolled his eyes as he got up. Going to a nearby bookshelf, he returned with a magazine and opened it to a photospread featuring a very flamboyant turquoise haired man dressed in white and a beautiful serpent like Pokémon with long flowing tassels near its eyes. “That man is famous for training beautiful aquatic Pokemon, and he refuses to eat eggs or any form of meat, most of all fish. Someone tried to serve him a Feebas once, and it sent him into hysterics.”

“Wow,” his friend whistled, looking down at the man, whom Falkner noted in one shot to be wearing a white cape that resembled wings when he spread it out with his outstretched hands. “I didn’t know you were into Pokemon beauty contests.”

“I mean, no not really,” shaking his head, he picked up the magazine and shut it before setting it aside. “I just happened to come across an article about a coordinator with the most gorgeous Altaria. He’s her uncle.”

“So you like girls now?” Janine rose her brow.

Falkner made a face,”I always did. Just that I dated a guy for two years, but I don’t even like this girl. I mean she’s cute, but not my type.”

“So what is your type?” Janine teased, leaning on her elbow again. 

“Older,” he replied and then regretted it.

Janine sat up with a hm noise and gave him a once over. Then she picked up some meat from the pot and began to swish it in her eggs, “So, how is Morty, anyway? I was gonna give him a call when I hadn’t heard from you, but I realized I don’t have his number.”

This was it -- the conversation he was still not sure he wanted to have. His brain began screaming at the rest of his body to be cool, but that lower lip of his tucked itself in faster than he could get up from the table under the pretense of putting the magazine away. He had to pretend like nothing was bothering him, even if it was for a reason that she would scold him for. 

There was no love lost between Morty and Janine, and he was certain that her dislike of his ex would triple if he told her what was going on. In the past, it had bothered him that two very important people in his life could not get along, but now it was his own reputation that he was worried about. The fragile male ego -- remembering those words, brought a bit of a smile back to his face. However, he couldn’t sustain the expression after returning to the table to find Janine’s worried eyes scrutinizing his every action. It reminded him that he hadn’t even answered the question, and now he felt like a fool. Still, he was determined to keep playing this game, and so he shrugged. 

“He’s alive.”

“Alive, huh?” With this question hanging in the air, she gave him yet another once over. Then her brows knit together, “I’d ask you if you’re protecting him, but I know you too well. It’s you you’re protecting.”

The fragile male ego, indeed. 

He put on his best neutral expression and began focusing all of his attention on the pot while making his tone as even as possible, “You’re assuming things, and you shouldn’t.”

“You haven’t answered any calls or shown up at your usual hangouts in two weeks now, you know, and I can see your face.”

“What are you talking -- “ he began, being cut off by her grabbing his chin and turning his head to face her. 

After shaking her head, she let him go and then she put a finger on the left side of her jawline a few inches away from where it curved up to meet her ear. She then poked at her right cheek, followed by her chin — all spots on his face where he had pimples. “And I bet there’s more hidden by your hair. You’re avoiding your friends, you’re obviously not leaving the house except for the gym, you’re breaking out, it looks like you’ve lost weight, and Morty is just alive. Did you guys break up?”

After taking in a deep breath, he let it out in a long, slow sigh and closed his eyes while pushing his fingers through his fringe. “Why can’t you just leave it alone? It’s like you want to see me crack.”

“No. I want you to stop acting like you haven’t already.”

He didn’t know what to say to this because it was the truth. The crack ran deep, but instead of working to repair it, he was shoving things in front of it in and hoping that no one would notice. 

“I’m…” he sighed, rubbing his hand over his face beneath his hair and opening his eyes slowly. “I’m sorry that I said that. I don’t think you’d want to see me hurt. I don’t want you to see it…”

“Wow,” she sighed. “You know, you really frustrate me with how you’re always wrong about everything, especially with how you think you’re not allowed to have feelings for other people’s sake.”

“I just…” he began and then covered his face, breathing in several times. Once he felt calm and a lot less like he was going to cry, he lowered his hands and then looked down. “I just want it to stop. Am I going to feel like this forever?”

His vision began swimming again, making him want to hide, but a gentle hand on his gave him the strength to look up. “No,” Janine shook her head. “It’s not going to hurt forever, especially because you just did the hardest part.”

“What’s that?” he asked as he dabbed at his uncovered eye with the back of his hand.

“Admitting that it hurts in the first place.”


	3. Live Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a kind of disclaimer, the Pokemon timeline, at least to me, is kind of just all over the place at this point with all the remakes and such. So what I'm going with is that this is taking place about two years after Lyra/Ethan would have had their Pokemon journey. I'm going with that Lyra and Ethan were like 12ish then, which is about right for Pokemon trainers starting their journey. The general consensus I've always heard is like 10ish -12ish, so I'm going with 12ish so that Lyra can be 14 now and a little closer to Falkner in age. I think 14 as of HG/SS seems about right for Falkner.

In Falkner’s opinion, Janine was usually wrong about everything, ESPECIALLY when it came to whose dad could beat whose. That made it a little hard to admit that she was definitely right about this one thing -- isolating himself from his friends as a means of hiding his pain was hindering his healing process. After all, the goal was to get back to living his life. Holing up at home when he wasn't faking it at the gym was not living. It was merely existing in a way that was unfair to himself and the people who cared about him. While being a big part of his life, Morty had not been his entire life. More than his ex-boyfriend, Falkner’s friends had fit into his routines at the same level of importance as brushing his teeth. Thus, avoiding them was only punishing himself and them for the break up, which was the last thing he wanted to do. It was time to start living again.

He hadn’t heard anything from Lyra by that Saturday, but he went down to the fighting dojo anyway, hoping she would be around. He was in luck. After landing nearby, he was just returning his Pidgeot when he felt a snowball smash against his back. When he turned, there she was. With the colder weather, she had switched to a white knitted hat with a red bow to compliment her cherry colored double breasted coat. She still wore her trademark long white socks, but the knitting was a bit thicker, and a long blue skirt peeked out from underneath her coat. With one hand on the strap of her old tanned trainer bag, she was using the other to toss a snowball up and down the way she would a pokeball. 

“Hey!” he waved and then rubbed the back of his neck. “Guess I deserve it if you throw that at me. I know I haven’t been around. I wanted to call you, but…”

SPLAT.

Maybe those weren’t the right words -- mentioning his failure to call. The snowball hit him squarely in the middle of the face and then what didn’t stick to his skin fell to the ground. Using his scarf, he wiped at the melting on his face and smiled sheepishly as the frowning girl got close to him. 

“Yeaaaah, I’m sorry. But I’m here! We can have a match now!”

This was the right choice of words. Lyra grabbed his arm and started to haul him towards the entrance of the dojo while huffing, “Why couldn’t you just answer and just say you didn’t feel up to it?”

“Um, cause I’m a boy, and boys are dumb,” he offered as he was pulled into the crisp warmth of the building. “But I’m gonna try to be less dumb from now on.”

“Well, there’s that,” she began as they entered together. “At least you…”

He didn’t hear the rest because his eyes fell on the last person he expected to see standing in the lobby. In the time that passed, he hadn’t thought at all on how he would react upon seeing Morty again, but now he had his answer. His heart started racing, his breathing picked up, and his legs took over, making him turn in the opposite direction and bolt out of the door. He didn’t even know where he was going or how far he would have gone if not for hearing Lyra’s voice calling from behind him. Coming to a stop in front of a house, he allowed her to catch up and then began slowly walking towards the Poke Mart.

“What is he doing here?” he grumbled mostly to himself. “It’s not Tuesday…”

“I’m sorry, Falkner,” his worried friend reached out to hug his arm. “I didn’t know. He must be… trying to see you…”

“Why? He broke up with me!”

The anger in his voice made the poor girl at his side cringe. Looking up at him, she tried smiling a little to calm him, “I don’t know, but I’m more hungry than I am looking for a battle anyway. Let’s go to my house!”

When he nodded, it brightened her smile a bit, but her brown eyes still held a hint of worry. Seeing this reminded him that his friends cared very much for his feelings. They didn’t want to see him hurting any more than he had wanted them to see, but instead of avoiding his pain or encouraging him to hide it, his friends, like Lyra, would do their best to try to help him feel better. With a second small nod, he smiled and got Pidgeot’s Pokeball. 

“Let’s fly!”

\---------------------------------------------

Because the family was only Lyra and her mom, their home was small and modest, but very modern compared to Falker’s place. Upon entering, just beyond the square table and four stools, was the kitchen area, sectioned off by the counters. The single bathroom and Lyra’s mom’s room was off to the left, while the stairs along the far well, just past the TV, would lead up to Lyra’s room. 

When the pair entered, they wiped their feet on the mat and Lyra released her Marill while calling out, “Mom, I’m home. I brought Falkner for lunch if that’s ok!”

“Oh, Falkner!” Coming out from the kitchen, Lyra’s mom dusted off her apron and then fussed with some stray strands of her hair, tucking them under her red headband. “Look at you! You get handsomer every time I see you! And taller, too!”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Falkner smiled and gave a slight bow. 

“And you’re always so polite!”

The recipient of these compliments was slightly blushing now. It was always a treat to hear that he looked taller, even though he knew it wasn’t true. For reasons beyond him, he seemed to be stuck at five feet and three inches. While this was easier on his wardrobe budget, he would definitely not turn down a chance to add on at least six more inches to his height. Hearing that he seemed polite didn’t hold quite the same amount of joy, but he would definitely take it as well, especially as something to throw back at his mother later. 

“Thank you, ma’am,” he bowed once more, making the older woman giggle. “I always try.”

Falkner caught Lyra rolling her eyes as her giggling mother turned and headed back to the kitchen. With a snicker of his own, he couldn’t help but think, as he often did when he visited Lyra’s home, that the daughter was the spitting image of her mother. This was something that the prodigiously talented young trainer hated to hear, and Falkner could certainly relate. Though he was always polite for the sake of his father’s reputation, he always gave a mental sigh when he was called something cheesy like ‘Chibi Walker’. At least Lyra would be known more for her skills in a Pokemon battle than she would for getting her mother’s good genes. 

“Well, please make yourself at home,” Lyra’s mom called back to him. “With the cold weather, I thought soup dumplings might be a good choice. I hope that’s alright!”

“Oh yes,” his eyes lit up as he started to follow. “Please let me help? I’m still a little slow at it, but I form a perfect dumpling!”

“You really are a mother’s dream. I hope I’ll have a son-in-law like you!”

“Mom!” Lyra interrupted her mother’s odd swooning. She had gone towards the stairs to play patticake with her Marill, but now she stood with her brows knit together as she shook her head. “Could you not?”

Lyra’s mom continued to giggle and Falkner found himself disguising a laugh when Lyra gave him a threatening glance. The day wasn’t going exactly as he had hoped, but visiting his friend’s home had proven to be just as entertaining.

There was something very therapeutic about making dumplings. Working with the dough, shaping it into perfectly round shells, and then filling them with gelatinized soup was its own reward. Coupled with good conversation and pointers on things like how to form good pleats from Lyra’s mom, he soon felt a lot less like the heartbroken boy he had been. In fact, it was the most he had smiled and laughed since the break up, with the added payoff of several baskets of delicious smelling, freshly steamed xiao long bao. 

“Come on, let’s eat in my room,” Lyra said when they had finished cooking. She shoved a tier of dumplings into Falkner’s arms and then grabbed one for herself before leading the way upstairs to her bedroom. Balancing the tray on one arm, the bird trainer waved at Lyra’s mom and then headed up after his friend.

It always amazed him that about half of his house could fit into this room. Much of the open space of the room was taken up by a rug, with her bed shoved into the far corner of the room opposite the corner with the stairs, and her desk and TV being straight ahead at the top. Lyra flopped down onto the rug when they entered the area, and Falkner did the same while contemplating gifting his friend more things for her modestly decorated room. With only a little bitterness rising, he wondered how she would feel about taking that Drifblim paper lantern.

“I really like your mom,” he remarked, hoping to distract himself from where his thoughts were going. Getting settled, he started to admire the work they had done, feeling just a little sad at the idea of eating such pretty dumplings.

“Yeah well, she has a crush on your dad,” Lyra snorted and rose her brow as her guest started to take pictures of his food. “So don’t get any ideas.”

Falkner rolled his eyes as he tucked his device away. With his hands free, he poked contemplatively at one of his dumplings, “Everybody’s mom has a crush on my dad. I’m surprised she didn’t ask me about him.”

“Well, I kinda told her not to ‘cause I know you haven’t heard from him in a while.”

“Thanks,” he smiled a little and shrugged his shoulders. “But I’m ok there. I guess he figures I’m at the age where I don’t need him to pretend he’s coming back anymore, and he’s right. I can take care of myself.”

Lyra seemed to have reconsidered his earlier idea. She snapped a quick picture of her food and then settled down again, glancing at her friend and then back at her food, “I um...I wonder what he’d think about you dating Morty.”

“Well, he’d think nothing now because I’m not doing it anymore,” Falkner shrugged as he finally chose a dumpling to lift from the parchment paper that lined his basket tier. “Kinda speaking of Morty, did you get a new Pokegear? So we can rematch next week?”

“I did, but you owe me a new one,” Lyra answered in a dull tone.

It was a good thing he hadn’t taken a bite of his food yet. Otherwise, her faulty logic would have choked him. Putting his dumpling down, he stared at her with wide eyes, “How is that even possible?! I didn’t throw the first one!”

“No, but I threw it cause I was worried about YOU! You wouldn’t talk to anybody. I thought Morty finally decided that you can’t see us anymore…”

The way that her shoulders slumped and the pout on her face made him feel entirely horrible for the way he had handled things when it had come to his friends. He had only considered the Pokegear thing to be a joke and a sign of her impatience, but learning the truth behind it all was more proof that he had been wrong to seclude himself. 

“Geez,” he sighed, running his fingers through the hair over his eye, pushing it away and then letting it drop back into place. “Why does everybody keep saying that -- that Morty would make me stop hanging out with you guys?”

“Come on, Falkner,” his huffing friend folded her arms. “It was obvious that Morty didn’t like us. Whenever he’d show up and see us, he’d do that loooong sigh. And boy does he hate when Barry’s in town...”

“Well, Jun-kun is like a special circumstance,” Falkner continued fussing with his hair and sighed when the girl puffed up her cheeks. “For pity’s sake, he didn’t hate you guys, ok? He just couldn’t relate.”

“But he could relate to you,” Lyra rose her brow.

“Well yeah, I’m closer to his age than you guys.” This was how he always saw the situation, but now he received an eye roll as if he had just said the dumbest thing imaginable. 

“You’re like two years older than me. What are you smoking?”

“Uh, well… geez.” Coming to a loss for words, he sighed and resumed eating. There was no way to win this argument right now. This was how he had always seen things -- his friends, as much as he loved them, were still not as mature as he was. This meant to him that they were not able to understand the complexity of his relationship with Morty.

Clearly aggravated with him, Lyra would not allow him to retreat into his head so easily. Just like Janine, she continued to poke at him, only she did it physically as well, her brown eyes burning with determination as she asked, “Why are you defending him, anyway? He’s the one that broke your heart, isn’t he?”

Falkner gave a defeated sigh, “Well yeah, but that doesn’t mean I want you guys going around thinking he hated you or something like that. Things with Morty were just… complicated, but I would never stop being friends with you guys because he told me to. You guys are my best friends. Geez.”

“Yeah, well…”

“I’m sorry,” he sighed again, feeling that these words were the only ones that were right to say. Was he not the person that should be blamed here? After all, he was the one who had disappeared. Looking down, he continued, “I’m... really pretty effin’ sorry, ok? Because whatever I did, it was something that made all of you think I would ditch you for my boyfriend. I was away for too long being selfish. I didn’t think about how you guys would take it, I just… I didn’t want you guys to see me like that. I was… I wasn’t doing ok.”

Silence settled in the room for just a few moments before being broken by Lyra’s sigh, “Look, I’m the one who’s sorry, Falkner. We should’ve just gone to your house. You needed us, but we all just assumed it was ok to assume you didn’t want us around.”

“It was ok,” he smiled a little and poked at a half eaten dumpling. “Nobody knew what was going on with me until Janine showed up.” Looking up at her, he found it in himself to give her a larger smile. The point here was to make things ok going forward, not to dwell on the past. To that end, he waited until their gazes met before continuing. “I promise I’ll never do that again. Even if I don’t feel like I can see you guys, I’ll at least tell you instead of leaving you to guess. And I really am sorry that I didn’t make sure you guys know that I would NEVER stop being friends with you for Morty or anybody.”

“To be fair, it wasn’t you. It was him.” Lyra said, touching his hand. “At least that’s how I feel. I could tell that you really loved him and that he made you happy. I just kinda thought it was only a matter of time until you guys were like married or something. I didn’t trust him to not threaten to leave you.”

They had gotten close to marriage, hadn’t they? Now he was remembering his silver charms at the bottom of some lake. They were one Gengar away, but at this point, who knew how long it would be before that charm had been gifted? Falkner had lived out his days before the breakup almost holding his breath, believing that it could be any day. Learning that he had been dreaming of a future that would never come had been like suffering a broken wing. But broken wings heal. His still ached, and he could not imagine himself ever having that feeling of soaring again. For now, all he could do was take comfort in the fact that he would not be alone. He had an entire flock he could pull around him for warmth and safety. They had to know that he was not like his father -- he would never fly away without the people he loved. 

Lyra’s gaze was lowered, and Falkner noticed she had only made it through one dumpling. Reaching over, he gave her hand a pat for attention and then tried a smile, “If you’re saying all that, it makes me feel really sure right now that him breaking up with me was the best thing for me too. I mean… it still hurts, and I still miss him when I know I shouldn’t, but I don’t think… I don’t think it was a relationship I would want anyone else to have…”

“Falkner,” Lyra fidgetted and shifted in place, once again hiding her eyes from him. “Everyone was...I mean… we wanted to say something when you told us you were dating Morty. Janine especially wanted to say something, but we were all... scared. We thought you would hate us. Janine was the most afraid of that.”

“I haven’t been a good friend then,” was all he could think of to say to this. In truth, he did not know how he would have reacted, but he felt certain that it was a failure on his part if his friends had been afraid that he would hate them for speaking against his relationship with Morty. Right now, this answer felt like the right one. “I can’t really change how things were, though. All I can say is that you guys should be able to talk to me and tell me when you think I’m doing something dumb, and that I’m never gonna let Morty keep me away from you guys ever again like he did this time. He made me hurt so bad that I avoided you guys. I’m never gonna let that happen again. I promise.”

“Well, a Falkner promise is always a pretty trustworthy promise,” Lyra smiled and then smirked. “Now promise me a new Pokegear.”

“No way!” he rapidly shook his head. “You already have a new one! What are you talking about?”

“I need a backup for in case I throw the new one!”

It wasn’t even the funniest thing she had said, but it felt so good to laugh that he just let go. Even after it was over, the smile on his face stayed with him until well after saying goodbye and hopping on his Pidgeot’s back to head home. 

He was proud of himself. Yes, he had turned and hightailed out of there upon seeing Morty at the fighting dojo, but the sighting hadn’t destroyed his day. More importantly, it had not destroyed him. He had made the decision to focus on friendship, and it had paid off. He’d smiled. He’d laughed. More importantly, he had strengthened his bond with someone he cared about. All in all, it was a good day. For for the first time in too long, he found himself once again looking forward to the next one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah my poor Falkner! This hit close to home because I know how hard it is to find yourself carrying the torch for an absent father while slowly reaching the revelation that they were kind of trash for just leaving you.


	4. Chapter 4

It was as though someone, perhaps Spring, had gotten Winter angry enough to leave for a few days, only to return with full fury. For a short while, the days had gotten warm enough that Falkner had considered packing away his winter wardrobe and pulling out his spring clothes. Then the temperature dropped about twenty five degrees overnight and the sky dumped so much snow on poor Violet City, that the townspeople had to help dig each other out of their homes. Being the good neighbor that he was, the gym leader was happy to go around with a shovel, helping to clear walkways and to pile up snow in optimal locations for little kids to build their forts. He had just ducked into the gym for a little warmth in the mid afternoon when a familiar head poked in. 

“Hey, I’m here for a Zephyr badge.”

Turning towards that familiar voice, Falkner smirked as he threw one right at the speaker’s feet. In a thick red coat and black and yellow beanie, the boy smirked as he dusted snow off the long black socks that he had pulled on under his baggy shorts. Then he picked up the badge from the floor, bringing it back to Falkner. 

“Geez, it’s that easy these days?” Ethan teased him. 

“Listen, I can barely feel my fingers right now, so I’m willing to not and say we did for any trainer today,” Falkner laughed as he flopped into a chair and began rubbing a light blue towel through his hair. What he wanted more than anything right now was a hot shower and to wash his somehow damp hair, but he needed to get back out there and dig out the path from the gym to the birdhouse and his house. For now, he smiled at his friend. “I haven’t seen you in forever. Where’ve you been?”

“You’re one to talk,” Ethan huffed as he flopped on the floor next to him. “I heard Lyra actually saw you in person a couple weeks ago, so I decided to try.”

“Yeah, well,” Falkner began as he wrapped the towel around his head. “I guess by now you’ve heard.”

“You should’ve told that guy that he can’t dump you because you dump him first,” his friend smirked as he leaned back with his knee drawn up. The boy spent a few moments gazing at the rafters and then remarked offhand. “Spring cleaning time coming up?”

“If spring actually ever comes,” the gym leader replied, hoping to shift the subject. He was starting to feel a lot better about the break up, but thinking of Morty still had the power to ruin his mood. He’d much rather enjoy his time with his friend than bring up bad feelings. He continued, “It was really warm yesterday, but today… well, you can see all that snow. How did you get here, anyway? Did you ride your bike?”

“Mhm,” Ethan nodded as he sat up again. “Maybe some legendary Pokemon got pissed off in another region again, and that’s why this winter has been so weird. I wanted to come sooner, but look at all this snow. Hope it’s enough for you, cause if not, we could always go visit Barry.”

“I mean, I would,” Falkner shrugged. “I miss Jun-kun. I haven’t seen him since…”

“That time?” His visitor finished for the bird trainer, who sighed.

“Yeah, that time.”

“You should call him,” the dark haired boy suggested. “I’m sure he doesn’t blame you, and spring is coming, anyway. We’ve gotta all be here. It’s tradition.”

“Yeah, I know,” Falkner nodded as he let out a slow breath. “I have to go finish shoveling, but I’ll call him when I’m done and see what’s up. You wanna help?”

“Nooot really,” Ethan replied with an upwards inflection, making the answer sound more like a question. “I mean, I will if you really need me, but…”

“Yeah I get it,” amused, Falkner threw his towel on his friend’s head as he stood. “Call me this Saturday, will you? I wanna have a rematch.”

“Whew,” Ethan exclaimed with his hand on his chest. When Falkner stared at him with a confused expression, the boy explained, “Scared me for a minute there. I thought you were gonna say call cause you want to talk about your dad!”

\-------------------------------------------------

Ethan decided to go visit his grandparents, and Falkner spent the rest of the afternoon and a bit of the early evening digging out his paths and then helping others. With the weather the way it was, he wasn’t expecting visitors at the gym, so when he finished outside, he went home and started chopping vegetables for a stew. Barry could wait a little while longer, he decided. After all that shoveling, the bird trainer was famished. 

When everything was on, including the kettle for tea, he dressed down into a white robe that he liked to sleep in and shoved his stockinged feet into a warm pair of house slippers. Then he sat down in front of the TV to huddle with Hoothoot under a blanket. 

As his thoughts began to wander towards what he would say to his friend when he finally made that call, he was interrupted by his front door opening, letting in a cold blast of air. There was only one type of person who would do this -- a vampire. The legend says that you only have to invite them in once, and then they will enter whenever they please. He was only ten and still naive when he had first invited this woman into his house. 

Standing at only four feet tall, she looked as beautiful as she had been all of his life, with her dark blue hair pinned up and decorated with jingling floral barrettes. As she moved towards his table, carrying her annoying Oddish in her arms, the train of her blue and white, Articuno patterned kimono rustled in a way that mimicked the movement of a river. As a child, he had loved to watch her walk, but now he only rolled his eyes in annoyance. 

“Hayato-chan, are you making dinner?” She sat her irritating Pokemon down, making the boy in question contemplate calling to HootHoot to use Gust. 

The owl Pokemon was old and hadn’t battled in years. What’s more, his current owner couldn’t even remember what moves he knew, and so the most likely outcome was an eye roll from HootHoot. The unwanted guest didn’t know this, however, and so there would be some satisfaction from the fib — just not enough to make the effort worth it. 

The trainer huffed as his Pokemon flew off to his perch, signaling the end of their quiet moment. Turning to glare at the intruder, he replied, “I’m making dinner for me. You don’t get to show up uninvited and then eat at my house.”

“Rude boy,” she tutted. “You get that from Walker. Lucky for you, you’ve gotten most of my beauty.”

“Can you get that thing off my table?” Falkner gave a long sigh. “You know I hate it. Why can’t you have an Eevee like normal?”

“That’s only what you’ve seen this generation of Kimono Girls do,” the woman clicked her tongue. “You would know a lot more if you had been born a girl like I told you to.”

Falkner pinched the bridge of his nose, “Can you just go home? I’ve been busy all day and I’m tired.”

Ignoring him, she went into the kitchen as the kettle began whistling. “I saw Matsuba-chan the other day. He asked about you. Said you’re not speaking to him.”

“Good for you and Matsuba-chan,” Falkner rolled his eyes as he followed her. Finding his wooden spoon, he took out his frustrations on his dinner by stirring as hard and fast as he could without making a mess. In the meantime, this annoying woman moved through his kitchen as though she lived here, easily finding two cups and adding tea leaves to the bottom. He knew her too well. The type of tea she was here for was the kind you spill, not drink. Watching her add hot water to each cup, he sighed, “Mom, please. I just want to eat dinner and go to bed. My throat is starting to hurt a little.”

“Aww, my baby,” she fussed as she pat his cheek. Moving his hair out of the way, she placed her hand onto his forehead. “Yup, you’re warm. Mom should stay here to take care of you.”

“I’d rather be sick,” Falkner replied without missing a beat. “Look, can you just drink your tea and get out? I wanna get some rest so I can meet Janine tomorrow.”

“Ooh,” her eyes lit up as she carried both cups to the table. After sitting them down, she then gracefully perched on one of his cushions, looking at him with that same interested gaze. “How’s Koga? Still single?”

“MOM! Could you NOT?!”

“I used to date him, you know. Before I met Walker.”

“Someone kill me, please,” Falkner sighed. 

“When are you going to date someone?”

After a long sigh, Falkner fell quiet and continued to stir his dinner. He had never told his mom about his relationship with Morty for several reasons, but it was mostly because of the way it happened. They were friends first, but then one night while Morty was sleeping over, things had gone to places they never had before, and suddenly Falkner was no longer a virgin. He hadn’t known how to tell his mom or anyone about that. In fact, he had avoided Morty for weeks afterwards, only for his mother to show up here, declaring that she had seen Matsuba-chan and been told that they weren’t speaking. It was something that seemed to happen after every fight or misunderstanding, so he was confused about why it was happening now. He couldn’t tell Morty to stay away from his mom. After all, the ex lived in the same city as the Dance Hall, which his mother frequented to mentor and visit with her little sisters. At the same time, Morty was beginning to feel like something he couldn’t escape. His mother had never asked him about his dating life, so why now?

Lost in thought, he was startled when he heard his mother’s voice calling out, “Hayato-chan? Come’ere.” Sighing, he went over and sat down next to her. Then he began tapping his fingers on the table. “What’s wrong?”

“Why do you ask?” he shrugged.

“We bicker all the time, but you’re still my child. I KNOW when something’s wrong.”

“You don’t, though,” he spoke softly. “You always spent more time with the girls at the dance hall than you did with me. You were even paying all the attention to them and ignoring me when my accident happened.”

“I’m trying to be here for you now,” she furrowed her brow and tucked in the corner of her lower lip. “I’ve been trying ever since you moved into this house, Hayato. You grew up so fast…”

She took his hands, but he pulled them away and went back into the kitchen. “Look, I don’t want to get all emotional or whatever today. We never had some close relationship, so I don’t feel like trying to pretend we do now. I’m tired and probably sick, so can you please just go home and leave me alone?”  
.  
“You always push me away,” his mother sighed. “I may have been inattentive at times, but I’m here. I didn’t fly away like Walker.”

Falkner drew in a long breath and turned in time to see his mother heading for the door with her Oddish and his tea cup. He would just get that back another time since her leaving was his goal at the moment. Once she was gone, he exhaled and then returned to his pot of stew. She was probably going to tell her girls tomorrow how she had such a terrible son, leaving out the fact that she had done most of what she called raising him while Walker’s head was always in the clouds. Even tonight, she had not bothered to accept responsibility for his accident. And the incident hadn’t made Walker feel as though he needed to stay around for his son, either. It was no wonder he’d pushed his friends away during his hard time. His life had left him to believe that when bad things happened to him, the only person he could count on was himself.

\------------------------------------------

Dinner was warming his belly, the television was off for the night, and he was in bed nervously fussing with a lock of his hair while waiting for his call to be answered. Three ring sequences in, the voice he was hoping to hear practically shouted into his ear, “HATO-CHAN, IS THAT YOU?!”

“Jun-kun,” Falkner laughed immediately. “What are you doing? You sound winded.”

“Oh, just running home. I was gonna go like an hour ago for dinner, but then I got distracted with something. What’s up?”

“Should I just call you back tomorrow?” Falkner furrowed his brow. He already knew how this was going to go. They were going to get to talking, and then his poor friend was going to forget all about how he was going home for dinner, and then he’d probably become distracted by something else. At this rate, the poor boy was going to starve.

“No, no! I haven’t talked to you in forever since that time at your house. I thought you were mad at me or not allowed to talk to me anymore or something.”

“Everyone keeps saying that,” the bird trainer threw up a hand and let it fall against his thigh. “I’m really starting to worry about me giving off this impression that I would let someone stop me from seeing my friends.”

“Well, you didn’t call, so...” Barry trailed off and then practically screamed, “Oooh, didn’t you want a Starly?! Cause there’s a whole bunch of them right over there!”

“I mean, yeah, kind of,” Falkner answered without thinking. “I have my dad’s Staraptor, you know, but I’d love to raise a little Starly. But I mean, like didn’t you get attacked by a bunch of them that time?”

“Yeaaaah, but that was a looong time ago. I’m a waaaay better trainer than that now, cause I’m an actual trainer. I didn’t even know you knew about that.”

“Well, you told me, so...” Falkner laughed and let his body relax in bed. It felt so good to be talking to the hyperactive boy, and he was grateful that his friend’s tendency to wander off subject had steered them away from talking about Morty for a few minutes. They would get around to it, maybe. If anything, the subject was like an elephant in the room that Barry would just keep forgetting was there because something else would keep catching his attention. 

“Look, I’m gonna get you a Starly and bring it to you when I come for spring cleaning, alright?”

“So you’ll come this year?” Relief washed over the gym leader’s body as he turned onto his side. Really, the bird Pokemon helped so much that the work could be done with one or two people, but he loved having all of his friends there to help. Ethan was right to say it had become a bit of a tradition. This year’s coming cleaning would be their third anniversary. 

“Of course,” Barry answered. “Especially now that I know Morty didn’t make you stop talking to me.”

“I’m sorry, Jun-kun,” Falkner sighed slowly and crossed his legs. “I’m sorry you got put in the middle of that and I’m… really sorry that I stopped calling you. With the way everything went, I was scared you would be uncomfortable with me and not want to be friends anymore.”

“You’re crazy if you think that, Hato-chan,” Barry laughed. “I’m gonna collect a hefty friend tax off you this spring for that one. Oooh, anyway, gotta go, okay? Gonna get you that Starly. Call me tomorrow!”

And just like that, Barry was gone. But Falkner didn’t mind it, knowing that this was just how his friend was. They’d been talking about this Starly for a couple of years now, but something had always happened to make the other boy forget that he was supposed to catch and bring one for the bird trainer. Maybe this year, it would actually happen!

\---------------------------------

By Monday morning, the sun was out in full force and the ground was a mushy, melting mess. The weather forecast predicted that high temperatures would stay in the fifties for the next week, but in the early hours, the lows were still in the upper thirties -- just cold enough to warrant a hat and scarf. 

It turned out that Falkner was right about the sore throat. A little tea and honey helped soothe it, but he could feel in his chest that a cough would probably show up in the next few days. More than likely, this was his consequence for spending so much time out in the snow, but he didn't mind. Helping out was worth getting a little cold. 

At least he felt well enough to go about his usual routine. After breakfast and a cup of tea with honey and lemon, he got bundled up and headed to the department store. 

Janine met him outside, and after only two sentences, she grimaced and shook her head, “You sound like crap. You should’ve stayed home in bed today.”

“I like the way I sound,” the insulted bird trainer pouted as they headed inside. “I’ve always wanted a deeper voice. I was robbed in the height department, so I could at least get SOMETHING.”

“I mean, boys don’t stop growing until 21, right?” his best friend shrugged. “Maybe you need to take some vitamins or something.”

“I’ve grown like a whole inch since I was 12,” Falkner rolled his eyes. “And I eat really good. Most days, I don’t even eat meat at all. It’s just not my destiny to be tall.”

“Well, you should at least get something for how gross you sound,” she replied before starting to make odd noises in as deep of a voice as she could manage. “That’s how you sound right now.”

“I hate you,” he replied, crossing his arms. But all the same, he made his first stop a store where he could buy a specialty tea to help his throat. 

Like most Mondays, after they finished shopping, they stood around talking crap and playfully arguing about things. However, when Janine brought up her father, Falkner found himself steering away from the subject. Something had changed since the breakup with Morty, and now he found that he couldn’t look at Walker in the same light. In his heart, he felt that he hadn’t put the torch down permanently, but he was definitely not holding it at the moment. Whatever the reason for this change of heart, he found it hard to compare Walker to Koga, a man who had always been a part of his daughter’s life. It was true that Janine’s father was always busy as a member of the Elite Four, but at least he saw his child every day. He would never let her date someone like Morty.

They hadn’t talked yet about Falkner’s changing feelings towards his father, so he didn’t fault her for continuing her attempts at baiting him into an argument. “I think I’ll make him katsudon for dinner tonight,” she threw out. His shrug must have indicated something to her because she followed up by asking, “Do you wanna come over for dinner?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

Even as small children, it had always been Janine’s way to show her affection by pinching him or punching him in the arm, and so it was bit surprising when she draped an arm around him and pulled him closer. The comforting gesture was welcomed and returned by him putting both arms around her and squeezing. 

“Alright, alright, bird boy,” she laughed as she gently pushed him away. “Don’t turn it too mushy. Anyway, should we do rice or make sandwiches? I got this pretty awesome bread.”

He started to answer, but suddenly, she was grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him along. He stumbled a bit at first, but then caught up to the frantic pace that she was using to drag him away from the cape store.

“Is your Pidgeot outside with your stuff?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he answered. “But what are…”

“I just remembered something and we need to hurry,” she cut him off. If this was any other person, he would have asked more questions, but Falkner had realized long ago that he tended to have friends who were a little… spontaneous, to say the very least. 

As was usually the case for his shopping trip, Pidgeot was waiting outside with the items that Falkner had gotten today. Once they joined him, the trainer started to feed a treat to his well behaved bird, only for Janine to start impatiently tugging on his sleeve. He was about to ask her what her problem was when a voice that was all too familiar called out to him, making his heart freeze in his chest.

When he turned, there was Morty, wringing his scarf tail in both hands. “Please, don’t run off this time. Can I talk to you for a just a few minutes alone?”

This time, Falkner felt frozen in place, and he was surprised that he was being asked this. Not knowing what else to do, he nodded and then looked to Janine, silently asking her to give them a few moments of space.

Folding her arms, Janine started to step away while giving the blonde the evil eye, “You’ve got two minutes, and I’m watching from where I can easily put a kunai up your ass.”

Strolling past Morty, she made sure to shoulder check him before leaving the two alone. She meant it too. It wasn’t often that Janine said the A word, which is why it sent a shiver down the spine of her childhood friend. 

Only when she was out of reach did Falkner’s position on this little chat change. He wanted a lot of things at this moment, but one of them wasn’t to talk to Morty. Getting over the break up felt easier to do when the blonde was nowhere that he could be seen. Not wanting to look at him now, Falkner turned his back, only to feel a hand on his shoulder.

“NO TOUCHING!” Janine shouted off in the distance, causing the Ghost trainer to back up. 

“Falkner,” he began, and then sighed. “Hayato...I...I’m… I hoped you wouldn’t just stop talking to me. I mean, why can’t we be friends just because we’re not dating?”

“Are you serious right now?” Falkner asked, crossing his arms as he turned around. “You crushed me out of nowhere. I was stupid enough to think I was gonna marry you or something, and you just… you broke my heart.”

“I know,” Morty looked down at his shoes. “I didn’t want to. I mean, I made a mistake…”

The young bird trainer felt his heart start to beat erratically while trying to climb up his throat. After a few breaths, he shook his head, “Wow. Wow. I want to punch you right now. Like… why would you even say that to me? You made a mistake… what is that supposed to do for me now?”

“I miss you,” Morty spoke softly. Looking at Falkner again, he wiped a tear from his eye. “I can’t stop thinking about you. I made a mistake.”

“I did too,” Falkner shook his head. “We should’ve stayed just friends. Maybe then, we could still be friends now.”

“It hurts me that it’s like this,” the blonde sighed. “You can shut me out so easily, and I can’t read you. I never could...”

With a sigh, he reached out to touch the tall blonde’s arm, “Look, Morty. I love you, ok, but I think maybe you didn’t make a mistake after all. In the end, you were always mad at me, and I...I cried a lot…”

“But it can be better,” Morty said, pulling him close. “I’ll be better. Let’s start over at friends, at least?”

Saying no shouldn’t have been this hard. Yet Falkner was allowing himself to be held in the familiar comfort of those arms. A part of him hoped that Janine would break this up, but still, he closed his eyes and let his own arms settle around the blonde as words that shouldn’t be leaving his mouth were spoken, “I still love you.”

Morty always smelled like incense and fall leaves. The scent of him always lulled the young bird trainer into a sense of security that was strong enough to make him believe that everything that had been wrong could be alright, despite how horrible it was. He could feel himself swooning, falling under the spell. But the moment ended abruptly at the sound of Eusine’s voice. 

“Morty, what are you doing?”

“Eusine!” Falkner was shoved away so hard that he almost fell backwards. “Nothing, I…”

“I should’ve known there was a reason you wanted to come to the department store today,” the flamboyant blonde man spoke while wildly gesturing with his white gloved hand. “You promised you would stay away from him!”

Having heard enough, Falkner hopped aboard his Pidgeot and tapped his heels. As the bird took off, he could hear Janine calling to him from the blurry ground below. It felt wrong to leave her there, but he couldn’t go back now. The tears were falling too fast. When he felt slightly ok again, he would call her to apologize. He’d ask her if he could still come over for dinner, but right now, he had to leave. He didn’t know how far away he would go, but he would let the wind decide. Wherever it was, it would not be far away enough from the wound that had been reopened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The weather has been crazy like this in real life. I keep getting sick. 
> 
> Also, poor Falkner. From a falcon to a pigeon. None of his friends respect how truly awesome he is.


	5. I Believe In You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for mentions of sexual situations. This includes Falkner talking about his experience with Morty.

Janine did not know what she was bracing herself for as she stood outside of her best friend’s modest home in Violet City with a vegan carrot cake in her hands. She and Falkner had known each other all of their lives. They’d toddled after each other in diapers and taken at least one bath together, and as curious kids, they had taken each other’s clothes off and looked, but that was all it ever amounted to -- looking.

She had watched Falkner grow from a kid who cried because he fell down or because he wanted the blue thing, but got red, to a person who pretty much never cried. Now, as she stood outside trying to gather the courage to knock, she began to ask herself whether she now understood why Falkner had locked himself away instead of letting others see him cry. To have witnessed his tears after all these years had awakened a rage in her that she did not know existed, and she wanted to tear Morty apart. Luckily, Eusine had pulled him away while she was busy running after her own best friend, trying to get him to come back down to earth.

It had been a week. Falkner had not returned her calls, and had only texted to say, “I’m ok.” In fact, he had sent that around to all of their friends -- even the ones who didn’t know that something was going on. Thus, alerting them to the fact that something had indeed happened. And of course, they had all called her, like they did all of the time. In their eyes, she was Falkner’s keeper, and she supposed it made sense in some way. As his best friend and the person he saw most, it stood to reason that she would be the first person to know if anything was wrong. The first time this had happened, when the breakup was a new wound for Falkner, she had become frustrated and angry with their friends because she didn’t have an answer for them, and that hurt her more than she had shared with anyone. This time, at least she could tell them that Morty had gotten to Falkner again. She was still angry, of course, but not in the misplaced way she had been towards their friends when she didn’t know what to tell them before. Now, she blamed herself, and of course, she blamed Morty. 

Unfortunately, knowing who to blame did not stop her feet from being cold. She decided that she would just let herself in. In near seventeen years of friendship, they had never knocked. Seeing each other in various states of undress was about as much of a shock as being told that water is wet for them. If anything, not barging into each other’s homes and gyms would be what seemed strange.

She entered her friend’s home determined to do her best to deal with whatever she found. What she found was that Falkner was cleaning. There was a small box that was being filled with things, and two more were stacked up by the front door. The entire place smelled of oil soap and lemon -- signs that he had been at this a while. Falkner was at his table throwing out papers from a pile on top when she entered, but he looked up with a rather unexpected smile. 

“Hey! Sorry the place is a mess right now,” he said as she came over and sat down. “Just getting it sorted.”

“Um… yeah, spring cleaning never hurt,” her reply felt stupid, but she didn’t know what else to say, as she was a bit shocked to find that this is what he was doing. Though upon sitting and seeing the handwriting on most of the papers, she began to understand what was happening. 

He went back to throwing things out, and she sat the cake on a blank spot on the table. Seeing his curious look, she explained, “I baked a carrot cake. Totally vegan, so no eggs.”

“Thanks,” he smiled broadly as he used his arm to shove an entire stack of papers into his trash bin. 

His smile was as clear as day, but Janine couldn’t help but feel worry in her heart as she looked him over. As expected, his skin was perfection and not a hair was out of place. Her eyes were drawn to the hair swept over his right eye, and she thought sadly to herself that his hair was something that definitely expressed Falkner. He was always covering -- for his father, for Morty, even for his mom to a certain extent. Most of all, he covered himself. Admitting that he had trusted in adults that let him down was not something that he would do because that would be admitting that he was still just a kid. So he covered for them to avoid admitting their flaws to others, and most of all to himself. Janine saw all of this -- she had been watching him behave this way for years -- and the worst thing is that she had said nothing. She had not stopped him from dating Morty, at least not with words. In her actions and her hostility towards the ghost trainer, she had tried to express her disapproval. She had tried so hard to push him away in the beginning. But words have a way of destroying us even more effectively than they build us up.

On the papers that remained, she could see all the saccharine words the blonde had written to her best friend, who was now shuffling through the piles with unvoiced confusion. He would move a page to one pile, only to look at it again and move it to another. From what she could see, everything was being thrown out, so why was he going through these motions?

“Falkner,” she called for his attention, only to swallow hard when she got it. His face was smiling, but his eyes were not. He was hurting, and she blamed herself for letting it happen. Sighing, she gently moved his fist away from a stack of papers and pushed them all into the bin. Then she apologized, though not for her present actions. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when I first saw him.”

“It’s not your fault,” he said, turning to the bin for a moment and then shoving it away with his foot. His attention turned back to her, and he sighed, finally letting go of the fake smile. “I...I had a feeling it was going to happen sooner or later -- seeing him, I mean. He was already there when I went to meet Lyra.”

“So he’s been going places where he knows he’ll see you?” Falkner nodded at this, and she felt like throwing up. 

He laughed without humor and then spoke softly, “Fell for it again. Then of course, Eusine shows up…”

Shifting in her seat, she poked at the table, “Hey, Falkner? I um… Eusine… was not the problem with that relationship.”

“Look, I know, ok?” his one visible eye flashed with sudden anger, and she felt her body tensing. “I know Eusine was just a symptom of something… more.”

Janine was afraid of making him more upset, but she felt it was time to get this all out in the open. Sitting up straight, she met his eyes and spoke, “Eusine should’ve stopped the whole thing from happening just like I should’ve. You were 14, Falkner. And HE was 22.”

“No, just stop,” he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, lifting it away from his closed eyes. Covering. Always covering. She mentally begged him to stop doing it, but he continued. “We send like ten year olds out on a whole journey without their parents, but I’m too young at 14 to have a relationship?”

“With a 22 year old, Falkner!” Janine cried out to him, her voice begging him to see reason. “Or well now, he’s 24 and you’re 16, but he’s still had way more life journeys than you! And I can see you getting mad at me, but I won’t shut up. Me shutting up let you get to this place now with a person that…” 

Pausing, she watched him stand up and start to shuffle things around, trying to clean to calm his anger. She felt horrible for making him this upset, but she had to go on. He had to see that no part of that relationship had been healthy so that he could truly move on to hopefully find a relationship that was good for him. And so she continued, “Falkner, I saw it. He would say how you’re so mature when you were behaving the way he wanted you to, but the moment you didn’t -- the moment you wanted to spend time with your friends instead of devoting all of your attention solely to him -- he said, ‘I guess you’re still a kid after all’, and it nearly broke you. I saw. We all saw how you just barely held back from crying. Then you smiled like everything was ok. That was the summary of your relationship. He abused and manipulated you, and we all, Eusine included, just let it happen!”

Turning around, Falkner started towards her with a finger pointed at her chest, “I am not some victim, ok? I knew what I was doing. And Morty was just being a dick, but he’s not some abuser, so just stop. Just go home.”

Janine refused. Even though she was in tears now, she clenched her fists and stood her ground. “I will NOT! I know you don’t want to admit it, but Morty is an abuser. He might not mean to be or want to be, but he is. He tried to isolate you from us all the time. He was always mad at you no matter how hard you tried, and now? He’s stalking you.”

“I’m not…” Falkner began and then covered his face with his hand. “Can you please stop? I’m hurting right now, and all you can do is talk bad about my boyfriend and make me feel like…”

She cut him off by crossing the room and throwing her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Too long had been spent allowing him to retreat. Today, it felt like she was fighting for his life. 

“Falkner, please. I love you so much,” she sobbed against him. “You’re my brother, and I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m trying to save you, probably too late.”

His body started to shake, and at first she thought that he was still angry and planning to shove her away. Then she heard a quiet sniffle and realized that he was crying. This destroyed her heart. 

Reaching up, she smoothed his hair back away from his eye so that it wouldn’t get wet, and he reflexively shut it. It was pointless to her, though. She had been at the dance hall when the accident happened, though she wasn’t with him. Still, she had seen the blood all over his face as his mother carried his limp body while screaming for help. It had been the scariest moment of her life, thinking that she was going to lose her best friend at the age of four. Janine had few memories of that age, but this one was prominent, and it was why she had grown to be so protective of him. He was insecure about so many things, but found a way to cover it all up while looking cool. She was one of the few people that understood that he only covered up things that hurt.

“I’m so stupid,” Falkner’s soft declaration interrupted the quiet that was settling between them. “I don’t want to see him because I know if he said he wants to take me back, I’ll go and pretend that it’s ok… that I’m ok. I don’t know what to do with myself. I hate him, but I love him. What’s wrong with me?”

“I’m sorry, Falkner,” Janine squeezed him. “I’m sorry I didn’t protect you.”

“It’s not your job to protect me,” he sighed. “There were people who were supposed to do that job, but they quit, I guess.”

Pulling away, she sat down and pulled him into the seat next to her. Then she met his gaze and spoke slowly, “There is one person. Let me tell my dad about all of this, Falkner, please. I’ll tell him not to try to get into contact with Walker, though he’ll probably not bother. They used to be friends, but my dad really doesn’t think too highly of the way your dad left you…”

Falkner shook his head and put a hand to his face, wincing, “Please don’t… don’t bring up my dad. I don’t want to think about him while I’m trying to sort through this.” 

She sighed, heading for his medicine cabinet. Once she was back in the main room with the pill bottle, she put on the kettle and got him a glass of water. When she returned, she sat down and watched him down two pills, chased by the entire glass of water. 

“Thanks,” he sighed. “And you… you always take good care of me, ok? I don’t think like you should’ve protected me from Morty or something. He’s not some predator. This wasn’t even supposed to happen. We were just friends for so long. I don’t know why that one night happened.”

“I bet Morty knows,” she scoffed. 

“No, really,” he shook his head. “It really just happened. He always slept in my bed or me in his and nothing like that ever happened. We were never like romantic or touchy with each other.”

“Can I ask you something?” When he nodded, she went on. “Were you in love with Morty before or after he took your virginity?”

“Geez,” Falkner ran his fingers through his hair and then shifted in his seat. “I mean, I loved him. I’ve always loved him.”

“Yeah, but you loved him friend-like before, right?” Janine questioned. “When did you start loving him romantic-like?”

He seemed to consider it and then shrugged, “After, I guess. But you don’t understand, ok? Not to get TMI, but when you’ve had someone inside of you, it’s like... I don’t know. He’s the only person I could ever trust to be with me that way. He’s the only person I’ve ever wanted that way. Before you ask, I was bisexual way before anything happened with Morty.”

Janine found herself holding back from becoming sick at the thought of that predator doing things like that to her friend. She was no stranger to sexual things, and he knew that she’d had experiences with a girlfriend. In the end, she had decided that fantasies were enough. Watching Falkner’s relationship with Morty had been partly to blame for that. It seemed that throughout his affair, her best friend had spent more time trying to convince himself that he was happy than he had actually been happy. She was afraid of living like that -- holding on to someone that was actually weighing her down. So, after she broke up with that girl, she had messed around with a guy, and that was that. She hadn’t even told Falkner about that last little flirtation, as it was just for the experience.

“I mean, honestly, I really didn’t know you’re bi until you told me recently,” she sighed. “It seemed like you went right from being hyper focused on training birds to suddenly, everything was birds and Morty. I mean, before Morty, I just imagined you marrying a Pidgeot or something.”

“Hardy-har,” he snorted. “I mean, I still just wanna get out there and travel the world with my birds. I still think about that more than anything else, but I fell in love too. I didn’t give up on my dream, I just added some new ones to my main one, and hoped I wouldn’t experience my dreams alone.”

“But you do still wanna travel, right?” She asked, stroking her chin as an idea began rolling around in her head.

He rose his brow, “Um, yar. I just said that…”

The kettle began to whistle, and she got up to go get it with a smile spreading across her face. “That’s good. I’m glad to hear it. You just keep dreaming that dream, buddy. I believe in you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I want to say this chapter was hard to write, but honestly, I just kind of sat down and it poured right out of me. At the same time, it was hard to write without crying because I was Janine in a way. I didn't learn of how bad things truly were until after everything was over, but I still feel like I failed to protect my friend. That's been VERY hard to live with.


	6. Falling Cherry Blossoms

The weather gradually began to warm, melting away the snow and ice that had covered the city during the coldest days of winter. What would have been a snow storm in the previously bone chilling days fell as cool spring rain. It poured off and on for several days before the sun returned. Then Violet City exploded in green as the grass grew almost faster than it could be cut — and on the trees and the ground, buds formed and waited for the perfect time to flower. During this time, the people planted flowers around their homes and the gym. Because Falkner was well loved and respected as their gym leader by his neighbors, they also made sure that flowers would bloom prettily around his little house as soon as spring was in full swing. 

Spring has a strong association with love -- knowing this, the gym leader didn’t expect to be in the cheerful mood that came to him as the weather warmed. To his surprise, he even found himself excited as he prepared for Hanami. For the past couple of years, he had attended in a group that included his friends and Morty. Last year had been especially tense, but this year was a chance at a new start. He would enjoy the festivities with his friends instead of worrying that his ex boyfriend would be upset or jealous. 

For the event, Falkner dressed in a Yukata the color of the spring sky with a pattern of Swablu that looked like pure fluffy clouds. Leaving the hair over his eye, he pulled the rest up at the crown and tied it off in a long red ribbon that matched the bold red of his obi. Once he was dressed, he packed his pouch with several Pokeballs containing some of his favorite birds, a folding fan, his Pokegear, and some money. Then he stepped over to Hoothoot’s perch. 

“You won’t come this time?” The owl fluffed up and closed his eyes in answer, causing his trainer to sigh. Falkner didn’t like to think about it, but this Pokémon had already been four years old when the young gym leader was born. They didn’t have much time left. The gym leader just prayed that what they had would be enough to see the world together. 

“I wish you felt well enough to come, buddy,” he sighed and then tried something else. “Morty won’t be with me...”

He would’ve thought he’d be more surprised when the owl Pokémon flew over and perched on his outstretched arm, but he wasn’t. There had been evidence that even Hoothoot didn’t like his ex boyfriend— evidence that had gone ignored. This response would have bothered him only a few months ago, but now it felt like validation. If even his favorite Pokémon didn’t want the blonde Ghost trainer around, it was a sign that Falkner was doing the right thing by staying away from Morty. Yet as he and Hoothoot settled on Pidgeot’s back, the bird trainer noted a feeling of butterflies in his stomach, and these weren’t the good kind. It was nervousness. 

The festivities were going to take place in Ecruteak City, as they did every year, due to the dance hall being located there. Of course Falkner had considered the very real possibility of running into Morty, but he had decided that being with his friends was more important than hiding from his ex. At some point in his life, things had to go back to normal. Normal was attending this festival. 

He had Pidgeot land just outside of the city and then walked the rest of the way with Hoothoot in his arms once his biggest bird was returned to his Pokeball. The plan was for the friend group to meet up outside of the dance hall. When he arrived after making his way through the beginnings of a large festival crowd, Lyra was already waiting for him. She had chosen a garment in pale pink with a pattern of red fairy flowers, complimented by a yellow-gold obi. Her hair was pulled up with a big red flower pinned at the base of her knot, and her bangs were pinned back with a silver barrette with dangling bellflowers. 

“What’re you, wearing lipstick?” He teased after looking her over. She swung her fist toward him, but he stepped away while cackling and allowed his owl Pokémon to flutter off to a nearby branch to escape the commotion. Once he was sure that his favorite bird was safely settled, he resumed teasing his friend. “What?! You look cute!”

“Shut up, Falkner,” she huffed at him with raised brows. A few seconds later, her expression softened and she asked, “Do I really?”

“Totally,” he smiled. 

“You look handsome, like always,” she replied with another small huff. 

“Thanks,” as he raked his fingers along the loose strands of his hair to straighten any imperfections that the wind may have caused, he scanned the incoming crowds for signs of their friends. A group of girls caught his eye and they immediately began giggling and waving. He waved back, quickly dropped his hand, and then looked at his friend, who only shrugged. 

“What?” She asked. 

“Nothing,” he began slowly. As he realized the truth -- that he hadn’t done anything wrong -- he smiled and continued, “It’s really nothing for once.” Confidence he hadn’t felt in a long while filled him, and he ran his fingers through his hair again. “I’m gonna go say hi, ok? Be right back!”

Lyra was likely very confused, but Falkner didn’t want to risk ruining the mood by explaining what had just happened. Even as he approached the group of pretty girls, he felt as though he was truly beginning to put the feelings of abandonment, crushed dreams, and his broken heart behind him. This caused the anxiety that he had been trying to ignore to subside. 

He let the girls introduce themselves to him, and he talked birds with them for a few minutes. He posed for pictures, and when they sent him away with three new numbers in his device, he didn’t feel guilty or anxious. He didn’t have to explain that he couldn’t just turn down numbers from trainers just because they happened to be cute. Tonight, there would be no crying and arguing with an insecure lover. 

He felt like a bird being released to the open sky after healing a broken wing. His actions would still come with second guessing for a while, but he recognized that he was no longer being held down or back. He could enjoy his time with his friends, meet new people, and see where the winds of life took him from there. 

Speaking of friends, two more had arrived when he returned to Lyra. Though black isn’t considered a spring color at all, he wasn’t surprised to see Ethan dressed primarily in that color with a pattern of golden embroidered Seakings swimming among aquatic plants. He had paired it with a red obi, Falkner noted with appreciation. Also, he had foregone the usual backwards ballcap that he wore in warmer weather, revealing unruly spikes of dark hair. 

Of course, Falkner was excited enough to see his friend under circumstances that didn’t involve a ton of snow, but he reached peak enthusiasm at the sight of the boy who had come along with Ethan. In a spring green patterned with cherry blossom branches and a bright orange obi, was a blonde with hair shaped like wings on either side of his head. His fringe was combed over his forehead, drawing the viewers gaze to his large amber eyes, which grew as wide as saucers as he screamed with excitement at the sight of the bird trainer. 

“Aaah, Hato-Chan!” 

This got the other two boys shouting excited greetings as they huddled together. Not wanting to be associated with the madness, Lyra took a few steps away from them, but they wordlessly agreed to retaliate by following her, though they did calm down their antics. 

“Ooh, Hato-Chan! Before I forget!” Speaking in a more sense of hearing friendly tone, the excitable blonde that was Barry dug into his bag and pulled out a Pokeball. 

“Oh my gosh, is this it?” Falkner asked with excitement as he took the cool, round object in both hands. Seeing the blonde’s enthusiastic nod made him nearly burst with excitement. He managed to keep his cool, hugging the other tightly and then smiling down at the device in his hands. “Thank you so much, Jun-kun! This is such a nice surprise.”

“You didn’t think I’d remember, didja,” the other boy spoke with a smirk. “I should friend tax you to death for that.”

“I kinda forgot myself,” Falkner grinned as he gently tucked the Pokeball away with the others in his bag. “Speaking of forgot, where the heck is Janine? She couldn’t have forgotten about tonight, right? Maybe while we wait, we can find a quiet place so I can meet this new little guy or girl.”

“Geez, you really are a bird nerd,” Lyra snorted, rolling her eyes. She then turned her attention to Ethan. “And I haven’t seen you in forever, you know? You guys get together and just forget us girls.”

“Falkner didn’t forget Janine,” Ethan gave a playful shrug and dodged backwards as the annoyed girl’s fist flew at his chest. “Come on, now! I meant to call you for a rematch, honest! You look really cute!”

This was actually enough to get her to cease her violence. Smiling as though she hadn’t been attempting to hit someone just seconds earlier, she replied, “Thanks! Falkner thinks so too.”

“You guys are crazy,” the bird trainer shook his head as he stepped away to peek into his bag again. The new Pokeball was green with orange stripes on top instead of the standard red of normal Pokeballs. It was a nice touch that would always remind him of his good friend and the outfit that Barry had loved to wear when they had first met. 

“There she is!” Lyra announced, drawing the bird trainer’s attention away from his collection. 

When he looked up, he saw sure enough that his longtime friend had finally arrived. She was wearing white embroidered with Dustox and leaves. Her hair was pulled up as usual, but like Lyra, she had added a large flower, her’s being purple. He was about to tease her by calling her cute, knowing full well that she would hit him. However, he was distracted by a girl at his friend’s side.

At first, he had ignored this girl, thinking that she was just another face in the crowd. Now he realized that she was with Janine, and that drew his attention to her beauty. She looked like a spring blossom, this pretty girl in a pastel pink. Her garment was embroidered with white fairy flowers gathered densely at the bottom, with the pattern tapering out before disappearing under her white and gold obi. Her dark shoulder length hair had perfectly squared ends and perfect square bangs stopping above her eyes. In her hair, she was wearing a headband in a brilliant gold that matched her obi with a large white flower on the right side. 

“Hey everyone,” Janine’s speaking and waving snapped the bird trainer out of the light trance that he had fallen into, but the enchantment would begin anew as his friend directed everyone’s attention to her guest. “And you all should remember Erika.”

Erika was the leader of the Celadon City Gym -- that’s right! He knew of her, but they had never met. Now, he was wondering why. Before he could ask, she stepped up to him and bowed, prompting him to do the same.

“You’re Hayato-kun, leader of the Violet City Gym?” she asked with a voice that was prettier than any cherry blossom he’d ever seen.

“That’s me,” he smiled. “I’m sorry we haven’t met.”

“It’s my own fault,” she smiled and pulled a small grey pouch from her bag as she continued, “I rarely leave the gym or home, and I always miss those gym leader affairs.”

“You’re not missing anything,” he replied quickly. Their eyes met, and he was stunned by hers. Were they blue? Grey? Green? They appeared to change depending on the position of her head. He could stand here all day looking at them if her smile didn’t draw his attention a little more. 

“I’ve wanted to meet you,” she replied. “I hope you don’t mind, but I heard you were having a hard time. I made this for you.”

She put the pouch gently in his hand, causing him to give a surprised, “Oh?” Curious about what it could be, he opened it up and reached inside to pull out his gift. It was a bracelet made of leather cord with a beautiful Articuno charm. He was surprised that someone would give him a gift out of the blue like this, especially one that he liked so much. He immediately slid it onto his arm and admired it before saying a soft, “Thank you.” Then, as he remembered that his friends were around, he cleared his throat and repeated his words with as much bass in his voice as he could muster. “Thank you.”

Janine took this as her cue to come over and sling an arm around him, “Erika almost never leaves her gym,” she informed him of something that had already been said. “She wanted to meet you, though, and to see the cherry blossoms, of course.”

“We should do that then,” Falkner said, offering his arm. “Please allow me to be a gentleman and escort you.”

“Ok,” she giggled as she looped her arm into his. As they started to walk, she added to what Janine had said, “I also wanted to see the performance this year. The last time I saw it, I was very small.”

“In that case, I hope you enjoy it,” he smiled. 

As they entered the dance hall, making their way through the crowds of people, Falkner felt the arm of the girl at his side tighten on his a little bit. Did she hate crowds? Erika didn’t strike him as shy, but perhaps large gatherings made her feel anxious. Or maybe she didn’t want to lose him. Either way, he made sure to keep her close as they weaved in and out of gatherings to make their way to the courtyard. There were even more people out here, but it was easier to move, as everyone followed the path that wound its way through the garden, which was planted with several cherry trees throughout. 

“It’s so beautiful,” she gasped as they got close to the first blooming tree. Briefly pulling her arm away, she caught a falling petal and then tucked it into her bag as a memento. 

“Oh, that’s right,” he spoke to her as they began to walk again. “You train Grass types.”

“And you train Flying types,” she gave him a suspicious look that instantly turned playful. “I don’t mind! Some trainers like to make a big deal of it, but I don’t think you would bully me or my Pokemon with a type advantage. You don’t seem to be that kind of person.”

“Well,” he began, raising his hand to rub at the back of his neck. Glancing back to check on his friends, he found that they were still further back taking pictures. He started to head that way, but Janine caught his eye and waved him on, implying that they would catch up. This caused him to perk a brow, but he decided to go with it. They resumed a casual pace, and he started over. “Well, my mom has an Oddish that...MAYBE I could be nicer to.” 

She raised her brow at him, and he added quickly, “I don’t hate Oddishes! It’s just this particular one gets to me! I’m not some Grass type bully or anything. Most of my personal training has been to overcome type advantage. I mean, it’s really heartbreaking for me to watch my birds get zapped by Electric types.”

“Oh yes, I’ve heard a lot about how much you love your birds,” Erika resumed smiling and looped her arm with his again. “Most of your birds came from your father, right?”

“Mhm,” he nodded. “He was a Flying type trainer all around, but I’ve always had a bond with birds in particular. I think it was because of Hoothoot. He used to always perch on my crib when I was a baby. It got to a point where I would cry and refuse to sleep if he wasn’t there.”

“That’s so cute,” Erika giggled.

He rubbed his neck, “I guess it’s a little pathetic, but I have a perch for him by my bed at my house so he can be there when I sleep. Somehow, he became more bonded to me than he was to my dad, so when Dad went on his journey, he left Hoothoot and a lot of other birds too.”

“How amazing! My father isn’t much of a trainer and my mother doesn’t like Grass types at all. I envy the bond you must have had with your father.”

“Had,” he made a scoff noise, though he continued to smile. “We were really close when I was little. Then he took off on his adventures. The letters stopped coming about two years ago.”

“I’m...sorry…” 

She looked so uncomfortable that he immediately regretted sharing his story in the way that he had. Apologetic, he touched the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly, “No, it’s...alright. I shouldn’t have told you that.”

“No, I understand,” Erika shook her head. A petal landed gently in the shining black silk of her hair, distracting him slightly as she continued. “You don’t want people to idolize your relationship with your father when it isn’t perfect. You seem to be that type of person -- one who is honest and mostly humble.”

“Mostly,” he was amused. “You read me well, I guess. I can be vain sometimes too, I guess. All my life, I spent hearing about how handsome my dad is and how beautiful my mom is too, so it just became this huge point of pride for me that so many people call me handsome all the time.” They paused near a stone lantern and he laughed, running his fingers along his hair. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I hope I’m not like making you regret wanting to meet me.”

“No, I don’t regret that,” she shook her head and smiled brightly. “Janine is a good friend of mine, and she has...been worried about you. I pried it out of her. Not any details, but just that you have been having a very hard time.”

“Um, yeah...I really have…” he spoke slowly. “I’m not...I’m not sure why I’m… I mean, I don’t know.”

“It’s ok to not know,” her smile was as gentle as the falling petals. “We don’t come into life knowing all the things, right? When you’re a baby, don’t you fall on your butt a lot before you figure out how to walk?”

Falkner was inclined to agree, but something felt slightly off. It wasn’t so much Erika, but an odd feeling that nagged at the back of his brain. When he looked towards the group, he found them all standing there, looking that way. He decided in that moment that Janine was behind all of this. Suspicious of his friends now, he gently led the girl back towards them. 

“Oh there you are,” Janine tried to play innocent. “Should we grab good seats now? I didn’t mention to your mom that I brought a friend, but we’ll just use Morty’s spot for Erika.”

He glared daggers at his best friend for only a few seconds before Barry grabbed him by the arm, “That’s fine, but I’m stealin’ him on the way! Hato-chan, it feels like we haven’t talked in ages! We’ve got so much to catch up on now that the divorce is final.”

“Geez, a divorce,” Falkner rubbed the back of his neck as he was led away. 

In a lot of ways, divorce sounded about the right word. For so long, his eyes were only for Morty. He had cooked for him, cleaned his home on more than one occasion, and had definitely done the man’s laundry. They had never lived together, and they didn’t see each other on a daily basis, but when they were together, Falkner did feel like a little wife. When it was all happening, he had loved that feeling. Now, he was unsure if any of it was healthy. This made him realize that he wasn’t entirely sure of what a healthy relationship should look like.

He did not want to spend too much time thinking about it tonight. Instead, he focused on his friends, especially as Barry talked his ear off about everything he had been up to, including a ton of adventures with his best friend Dawn. The visiting trainer also bragged about Palmer, his father, and Falkner listened to this with a bit of a smile while slight jealousy churned beneath the surface. The energetic blonde boy didn’t get to see his dad often, but he did get to see him. Barry always knew where to go to find Palmer. All Falkner knew of Walker was that he was alive. Here and there, he’d get word that someone had spotted him. Those words never came with a message for the former gym leader turned adventurer’s son.

The dancehall was already beginning to see a flow of people attempting to find good seats. Because his mother was now a dance tutor, she would always reserve seats for her son and his friends. She had technically reserved the number needed for this year, but this was because she had been saving a seat for Morty as well. It made him slightly nervous that Erika was going to be taking his spot. Janine didn’t care.

 

Falkner made small talk with the group while they waited for everything to begin, and outwardly, he appeared as cool as ever. On the inside, he was beginning to feel the way that he always felt when he knew that Morty was going to fight with him when they were alone. It was the sort of apprehension that made a room feel a little too crowded and his legs feel a little too restless. He felt fueled enough to run for miles without stopping or looking back. Every sudden noise caused him to fight the urge to bolt. But he sat there as normally as anyone without his troubles would, and he watched the beautiful presentation attentively when it finally started. About halfway through, he started to calm down, and towards the end, it was with great relief that he realized that he had not seen Morty anywhere. 

After the performance, everyone filed out in search of food and games. Falkner’s immediate mission was to find ikayaki, and once he was successful, he was fine being led here and there to different booths and stands. They all had a blast attempting a game where you tried to toss three rings around the horn of a Goldeen, and as he always did, Falkner ended up showing off some of his favorite birds to a gathering crowd. His new Starly was the only bird not to be shown, as he was worried that the crowds would stress it. 

It felt good to have quick battles with up and coming trainers. He won quite a few, to his delight, and he was not sore at all about the few that he lost. As always, it felt good that the people of Violet City would gather around him to show their support and cheer him on, win or lose. The only feeling better than the love of his neighbors was, of course, being with the friends that he loved so much. 

But there was something else -- a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he noticed as he started to walk with the others back to their meeting place so that they could part ways. Erika had hooked arms with him again and was smiling from ear to ear about the Goldeen that she was going to take home to her mom. When they all made it to the meeting spot, she immediately pulled out her Pokegear.

“Let’s exchange numbers,” she said handing it to him so that he could program it in. “I don’t leave my gym or home often, as you know, but perhaps you could visit or I would even venture out to visit you. Or we could meet up somewhere in between.”

“I would like either or all of those,” he smiled as he gave her his number and then presented his device for her to do the same. 

The peck on his cheek happened so quickly that he was almost sure that it didn’t. While he was still processing it and blushing like an idiot, Erika and Janine took their leave. Lyra then hugged him, and Ethan high fived him, and they were off as well. 

“I’m sleeping at your house, right?” Barry asked, bringing Falkner back down to earth. 

“Uh, yeah, of course you are,” he waved his hand immediately. “Don’t ask dumb questions. Are you ready to go now?”

“Actually, can I try that Goldeen toss thing one more time?” The blonde bounced in place several times like an eager child asking a parent for permission to do something fun. Falkner laughed at this, shaking his head as he turned to walk back towards that game. One more time was going to easily become several more times, but he was fine with it. That feeling was still hanging around, but he chose not to let it keep him from enjoying the company of a good friend. While Barry played his game, Falkner could keep his mind busy with thoughts of Erika -- her eyes...her smile…

“Hayato!” Now there was a voice he could always get more than enough of. True, he had attended the dance to support her, and he knew very well that it made his mother happy when he did, but this didn’t mean that he wanted to be bothered with her. Yet, here she was, poking him in the ribs. “Who was that cute girl I saw you with? I almost thought it was that flower princess of Celadon City, but I hear that she almost never leaves her gym.”

“Her name is Erika,” Falkner rolled his eyes. “And I think it’s Nature Princess that they call her. Anyway, the presentation was really good tonight, mom. And you look really pretty.”

“Oh!” Hanako began to blush as she clasped her hands together and rested her face against them. “You make your mother so happy! Even if I know that you’re trying to distract me, I can’t help but to feel over the moon!”

“Geez, mom…” Falkner looked to Barry, but the boy was too busy concentrating on trying to win his game. Whenever the blonde’s tongue started to stick out, it was a sign that he had found something to hyperfocus on, and it was best to just let him be until something else caught his attention. “You really do look pretty.”

In his opinion, she did look lovely in a sky blue Altaria pattern and hydrangeas pinned in her hair. He had always thought in the back of his mind that if he could not look entirely like his father, it was still a blessing to have any of his mother’s features. She was a true traditional beauty, much like a girl whose smile would not leave his mind for more than a few minutes.

“Hayato,” she lightly slapped his shoulder. “Stop it! You’re trying to distract me!” After declaring this, she began to fuss over him, picking at his clothes and smoothing them out. “Look at you, my pretty son. A pretty girl like that princess is perfect for you.”

“Stop it, mom,” he spoke quickly. His face felt a little warmer than usual for all of five seconds before he willed it away. “Anyway, I’m leaving as soon as Barry gets bored of this game.” 

“Alright, alright,” she sighed. “But will you come with me for a few minutes? I want to talk to you about something important.”

He never should have agreed, but at the time, he had believed that he could trust his mother. He’d even thought that perhaps it was word of his father. In all truth, he had gone with her hoping that this would be the case. On the surface, he played the role of independent young man well, but deep inside, was a young boy that wanted his father to swoop in and make everything that had gone wrong in his life ok again. 

It wasn’t his father waiting for him in his mother’s dressing room.

“Hayato,” Morty began to sob as he wrapped his arms around him. 

Falkner looked for an escape, but his mother closed the door, and he heard the click of the lock. There was no way out. He was alone with Morty.


End file.
